DnA DJ Danielle Rago is also a curator of design and architecture events. Her latest takes place this weekend and involves a free, self-driving tour of some of key architectural homes on the Westside. In a treasure-hunt like twist on regular home tours, however, participants won’t actually be seeing inside the homes (with the exception of the Schindler House). Rather, they will find postcards designed by some younger designers in the mailboxes at the addresses listed on the map.

The concept, says Danielle, is for eight emerging designers “to engage with and respond to (the earlier houses) through the medium of drawing.”

Following the tour, which includes Rudolph Schindler’s Schindler House in West Hollywood, Frank Gehry’s Norton House in Venice Beach and a psychic’s house in West L.A. a post-exhibit talk will take place at Venice 6114 (above), located at 6114 Venice Boulevard in Culver City. Danielle explains the concept below.

Los Angeles is a city developed around and defined by houses rather than large architectural monuments. The singular residential unit has long been the site of experimental pursuits and critical inquiry in the history of architectural design in Southern California. Houses by Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra and Rudolph Schindler are some of the most iconic examples though the city is brimming with other residences that have simply become part of the vernacular landscape.The next iteration of On the Road, a yearlong series of architecture, art, and design programs intended to frame a moment in time within the contemporary context of the city of Los Angeles, focuses on the architecture and urban landscape of the Westside. Eight emerging designers have selected various residential sites West of La Brea Avenue .

Realized in the format of a standard four-by-six-inch postcard, reproduced 150 times and placed into the mailbox at each respective site, visitors are encouraged to navigate the various sites in any order during the course of the day to curate their own collection of postcards as well as explore the residential architecture that makes up the city fabric of L.A. (There are some exceptions, Clark Thenhaus, whose riff on the Norton House is shown above left, will be designing his own mailbox to be placed opposite the mailbox of the Norton House in Venice Beach.)

A post-event discussion about contemporary modes of communication within architectural production including participants Andrew Akins, Clark Thenhaus, Heather Flood, Heather Peterson, James Leng, Jessica Colangelo, Mark Ericson, and Wendy Gilmartin, moderated by Ellen Donnelly, will take place at 6114 Venice Boulevard at 4pm.

The invited designers will not necessarily be at the various sites, but some will as well as some of us organizers. We’ll all be touring the different sites over the course of the day before ending up at Venice 6115 for the post-event discussion at 4pm moderated by Ellen Donnelly and featuring OtR3 participants.

On the Road / West of La Brea will take place on Sunday, November 17, 2013 from 10-4pm at various sites on the Westside of Los Angeles. A map and additional information about the program and post-event discussion can be found online at: www.ontheroadprojectla.org.

The event is free! All of it – the decentralized exhibit (postcards included) and post-event talk and drinks.

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Danielle Rago is an independent curator living and working in New York City and Los Angeles.

KCRW’s Design & Architecture

KCRW’s DnA: Design and Architecture explores who and what matters in our designed world – on air, online and at public events. Host Frances Anderton talks to designers, users and experts about products, fashion, buildings and more, in Los Angeles and beyond –revealing how we shape today’s world and how it shapes us.

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